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If you're going for a "set," I'm assuming you are thinking chef's knife, slicer, paring and serrated bread knife. That's four knives at $300 each which makes your budget at least $1200. The last is pretty much going to be inexpensive (Tojiro ITK from (you'll have to google that) or MAC from anywhere). A nice 120/150 mm petty (paring) knife is going to run you no more than about $200 unless you're going for something custom, maybe. That leaves over $900 for a 270+mm sujihiki (slicer) and a 240 mm gyuto (chef's). Now you need to tell us what your priorities are. There are going to be trade-offs as long as your "set" stays under 20 knives or so, lol.

Stainless or not? Cute or not? In a hurry or not? Rocker or pusher (Although I expect you are willing to modify the way you cut to maximize performance.)? Light and a little wimpy-feeling or heavier and clumsier? I'm also assuming you want wa-handles since you want them to "look" Japanese.

I would suggest "talking" to Jon Broida at Japanese Knife Imports, at some point.

If you're going for a "set," I'm assuming you are thinking chef's knife, slicer, paring and serrated bread knife. That's four knives at $300 each which makes your budget at least $1200. The last is pretty much going to be inexpensive (Tojiro ITK from ************** or MAC from anywhere). A nice 120/150 mm petty (paring) knife is going to run you no more than about $200 unless you're going for something custom, maybe. That leaves over $900 for a 270+mm sujihiki (slicer) and a 240 mm gyuto (chef's). Now you need to tell us what your priorities are. There are going to be trade-offs as long as your "set" stays under 20 knives or so, lol.

Stainless or not? Cute or not? In a hurry or not? Rocker or pusher (Although I expect you are willing to modify the way you cut to maximize performance.)? Light and a little wimpy-feeling or heavier and clumsier? I'm also assuming you want wa-handles since you want them to "look" Japanese.

stainless please no carbon
hi when i say set i dont mean buy them all at once i mean buy 1 for $300 save up then buy the second knife ect ect i dont have the money to pay for them all at once.

i like the jck fh series because they have really nice handles and the blades look japenese style look:

stainless ,cute, in a hurry rocker or pusher? pusher i think,Light and a little wimpy-feeling or heavier and clumsier? i dont want ultra thin knives as im not a sushi chef
I'm also assuming you want wa-handles since you want them to "look" Japanese. no i want the type of handles on the jck fh series because they look modern classy and stylish

You want a western handle with a relatively flat profile in stainless. FYI, traditional sushi knives are certainly nothing resembling "thin." It is fairly common for sushi guys to use a thin sujihiki instead of the traditional ones. That said, thinner knives are more efficient cutters. With regard to the Hattori FH series, they are definitely for rockers as opposed to pushers and the handle is probably the best part about that knife. Unfortunately, the handle really only matters if you spend a lot of time using a knife. They are good knives but for $300 a pop, you can do much, much better in terms of performance. I'd probably start with a 240 mm gyuto in the Ashi-Gesshin Ginga line from JKI even though they are pretty thin. They are so much better than the FH in every way I can think of.

You want a western handle with a relatively flat profile in stainless. FYI, traditional sushi knives are certainly nothing resembling "thin." It is fairly common for sushi guys to use a thin sujihiki instead of the traditional ones. That said, thinner knives are more efficient cutters. With regard to the Hattori FH series, they are definitely for rockers as opposed to pushers and the handle is probably the best part about that knife. Unfortunately, the handle really only matters if you spend a lot of time using a knife. They are good knives but for $300 a pop, you can do much, much better in terms of performance. I'd probably start with a 240 mm gyuto in the Ashi-Gesshin Ginga line from JKI even though they are pretty thin. They are so much better than the FH in every way I can think of.

thanks for the info tk59 but i went on that sit just now and all the Ashi-Gesshin Ginga knives are out of stock

i only wanted a set so they all matched but if i can get better performance from mix and matching i will do that but there are so many diffrent knives and styles i dont know where to start with a set you can just buy the knives in that set

Same thing with a different handle. The wa-handled ones run about 10 mm short measuring on the edge. Those labeled "ginga" or "Gesshin" are left a bit harder which might help in terms of edge retention depending on how you use the knives. They are also a little better finished in terms or rounding the non-cutting edges on the blade.